Lucky Aiyedatiwa wins Ondo APC governorship primary election

Lucky Aiyedatiwa, governor of Ondo state, has clinched the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial ticket for the November 16 election.

Usman Ododo, Kogi state governor and chairman of the election organising committee, declared Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the party’s primary in the early hours of Monday.

Ododo said Aiyedatiwa secured 48,569 votes to defeat his closest challengers — Mayowa Akinfolarin who had 15,343 votes and Olusola Oke who polled 14,915 votes.

Aiyedatiwa won in 16 of the 18 LGAs in the state while Oke won in Ilaje local government area.

The election was cancelled in Ifedore LGA due to issues of violence.

The APC primary election, which started on Saturday, was marred by allegations of irregularities while there were demands for cancellation by the leading contenders.

Several aspirants alleged that no election took place in most parts of the state.

Olusola Oke, Olugbenga Edema, Wale Akinterinwa, Dayo Faduyile and Jimi Odimayo are among the governorship hopefuls who opposed the conduct of the exercise.

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Folakemi Omogoroye, a female governorship hopeful, described the election as a “complete rape of democracy”.

“I am not going to accept it, and now, I am calling for cancellation and if this is not done, maybe we’ll meet in the court,” Omogoroye said.

Despite the criticism and controversy surrounding the election, the Kogi state governor insisted that the process was transparent.

The primary election took place across 203 wards in the 18 LGAs of the state.

The election was rescheduled in all 13 wards of Okitipupa LGA over the late arrival of materials. The rescheduled election, held on Sunday, recorded a low turnout of voters in some wards.

Members of the party staged a protest in Akure on Sunday evening over the conduct of the governorship election.

Adeniran Oyebade, director-general for Olusola Oke campaign organisation in Ondo central, described the primary as “daylight robbery”.